15-year-old Nina witnesses a terrible crime that puts her life in danger. Being an orphan, she has nobody she can trust. When corrupt businessman Thomas Backer sends five killers after Nina, witness protection officer, Max, a former special-forces soldier, is responsible for her safety. They soon overcome their initial distance to find common ground. While on the run from the ruthless Backer, Rudi, one of Max’s former comrades, comes to their rescue – and continues to help the two out of some precarious situations. Even Max’s ex-girlfriend Sara is not just there to help him as a federal prosecutor. Nevertheless, Nina and Max face ever-increasing danger, and soon the teenager is not the only one in need of a guardian angel – Max could use one too.
The script seems to have been written by committee, with members lobbying for each major character, and the action, set in vast environments all over the map, spreads itself so thin that a surfeit of motion vitiates emotion.
– Joe Morgenstern,
Wall Street Journal,
22 Nov 2012
fresh:
'Rise of the Guardians' is an effervescent dose of fantasia that's pretty hard to dislike. Unless, of course, you're a cynical grump.
– Derek Adams,
Time Out,
27 Nov 2012
rotten:
The conceit has its charms but too much of this movie, directed by Peter Ramsey, is more clamorous than inspired, and little kids might find parts of it too scarily intense.
– Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
30 Nov 2012
rotten:
Rise of the Guardians is harmless enough, and the lack of easy pop-culture jokes represents the post-Shrek direction of DreamWorks well enough. But this is the studio's least entertaining film.